Getting Great Feedback

A few days ago I decided to check up some tools for improving my project management efficiency and I stumbled upon a cool application called SharedPlan.
After installing the free, lite version, and playing with it a bit, I found it great.
However, from time to time I noticed a bug so I decided to drop it.
Then when I checked my emails, I found the usual "thank you for trying our software, we'll be happy if you can provide us with feedback" email from SharedPlan.

So I decided to be a "good samaritan" and answered them back, describing the bug that I found.

One hour later they answered, thanking me for providing them with feedback, and a proposal: tell us how you found the bug, and if we squash it, you'll get a free license to our full product (worth $200).
So I did, and 4 hours later they answered: thanks to you we managed to find the bug and fix it! here's your code for the free subscription. Cool right?

Well, I'll review the SharedPlan software when I get to know all of its features better, but here are some tips to take from this story into your feedback process:

Hammer and Coop

My friend Net had an exclusive launch for a very cool (and sexy...) Nokia video campaign.

The trend of attracting consumers attention through very well produced (and budgeted) creative video campaigns is a great thing in my view. It is much more viral (if the movie is good of course) and much less intrusive than the usual ads campaigns.
Check out also this great new serious that BMW produced for the Mini called Hammer & Coop - it's fun & sexy, exactly like the product they are advertising.
With accordance to my last post - why no putting it on YouTube?

Technorati Tags: Advertising, bizdev, BMW, Campaign, Hammerandcoop, Nokia

Get "Between the Sheets"

+ A good friend of mine once told me that you can add "between the sheets" (the ones from the bed, not the papers...), to almost any famous proverb and that it gives a whole new, funny meaning to it. For example: "Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, between the sheets", or "Success never needs an excuse, between the sheets", or "Bad news travels fast , between the sheets", etc. Try it out - it works every time.

But what that has to do with business development?

Well, it just reminds me of a small, yet effective technique that helps in cases of brainstorming and assists in:

1. looking at your current opportunities and seeing how they combine
2. exploring opportunities you haven't thought of

All you have to do is take your company slogan/mantra and add it to the slogan of the company/product you wish to partner/cooperate with, and vise-versa. You can add a linking word between the slogans such as "with, for, but, just, yet" and "squeeze" it a bit. for example:

Nokia + Fedex = Connecting People Overnight.
Google + Apple = Don't be evil, just think different.
American Express + SecondLife = My life. My card. My Imagination.
IKEA + U.S.Army = You don't have to be rich, just smart and strong.

Got the idea? Click here for a list of slogans and play with it by taking their slogan and adding yours.

An example for this combination from the real world (Apple + Intel):
"What’s an Intel chip doing inside a Mac? A lot more than it ever did inside a PC."

If you have any other examples (or funny combinations) feel free to share it in the comments/send me an email.

Technorati Tags: bizdev, business development, methodology, slogan

Blogging + Direct Emails = Next Step of Customer Relation

I just read this great post about a blogger that responded to a direct email he got from a fancy restaurant, telling them that he can't afford enjoying their menu but would be glad to be invited and in return will post about them in his (very successful and nice) blog. And it happened.

Besides of the fact that the post is written in a very original way (like a comic strip), it shows the right use of two different marketing methods: the old (?) fashioned direct emails, and the powerful blog marketing. Both methods , when used properly, provides the best way to market - having a conversation with your customers.

Direct emails
When it started, the direct emails was copying the traditional direct mail method where companies sent us promotions and information about their products. The Internet brought customization features into those emails so we can choose the subjects that interests us but the real smart companies took it one step further and used the most important aspect of this method - interactivity.
When you address your customers with new products/features/offers, you should expect and encourage them to reply. And once they do - you MUST reply to their replies in order to: a) learn from their inputs, and b) keep the conversation alive and show that you care for the customer's opinion.
There are numerous options for encouraging customers to reply; starting with promotions for participating in a poll, or simply write that you want to hear from them.
If you want to learn more about this subject, all you need to know can be found in this great blog.

Blogging
I wrote before about the importance of business blogging and the effect it has on Churn. Much has been said about this subject but it seems that only a few companies are practicing it. Using a blog and talk-backs creates a community of comments, where the community acts as a unique group. This group consists of enthusiastic people that wants to hear and talk about a specific subject.
The "Amateur Gourmet" example shows that when you talk to someone that is talking to a group that shares the same passion, he/she will deliver the message in the best creative way. Seth Godin call these opinion leaders "sneezers" since they sneeze your product virus to a group of people that are interested in getting this information.

So ask yourself:
1. Do I use my direct emails just to deliver information or to create conversations?
2. Who are the bloggers that I should share and care about?

Via Guy.

Technorati Tags: bizdev, blogging, direct emails, marketing, business development